Chimps grieve like humans

LONDON - RARE video footage taken at a wildlife park has showed that chimpanzees react to the death of a group member just like humans do when a close relative dies, researchers said on Monday.

Videos of a group of four chimpanzees at Scotland's Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park showed three of the animals caressing and grooming the fourth, a dying female, more than usual, said Mr James Anderson, a lecturer in psychology at Scotland's University of Stirling.

The videos also showed that the three chimpanzees tested the elderly female, Pansy, for signs of life at the moment of death, Mr Anderson said. Pansy's daughter lay near her mother's body throughout the night, and all the chimpanzees were subdued in the next few days.

'It's the first time to our knowledge that people have been able to capture on video the precise moment at which an adult chimpanzee dies in the midst of his or her group,' said Mr Anderson, who co-authored a study to be published on Tuesday in the journal Current Biology.

The animals stopped grooming Pansy and left her after her death, although her daughter later came back to build a nest and lie by her all night long.

The researchers said the study suggested that chimpanzees - known to have a developed sense of self and empathy toward others - were more like humans than previously thought. -- AP

(source: www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/TechandScience/Story/STIStory_519579.html )

My comments:
An amazing observation on the chimpanzees!